Secret's Deepest Secret
by MWolfL
Summary: Secret Squirrel and Morocco have been captured by Goldflipper, and this time Secret doesn't have a plan! Defeated, Secret regretfully admits something that he wished he had admitted earlier. Will he and Morocco escape? Secret SquirrelXPenny
1. A Gummy Situation

It was another day at International Secret Service (ISS) when Chief turned on his intercom.

"Miss Penny, send in Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole right away please." He said

Secret Squirrel popped out of a drawer in the Chief's desk.

"Agent Triple-Zero, Secret Squirrel, reporting for duty."

A locked drawer on the other side of the desk rumbled. A hole broke open where the lock used to be and Morocco's head came out.

"Likewise me Morocco Mole." Morocco said, slightly dazed. "Why do I always get the worst entrances?"

"Well you haven't really been practicing your entrances, you should train with Secret Squirrel sometime." Chief pointed out.

"Right."

"So what's the trouble Chief?" Secret asked, leaping over so that he was now in front of the desk.

Morocco struggled to get out of the drawer, but only succeeded in coming out of the desk. He walked over to Secret, the broken drawer awkwardly around his neck so that the rest of it covered Morocco's front. Secret pulled the drawer off Morocco.

"Thanks Secret."

"No problem." Secret smiled.

"*Ahem*, reports of stolen gold nugget bubblegum has accumulated since yesterday." Chief explained. "Originally the thief was thought to be a high school dropout or juvenile delinquent but the more recent large amounts of stolen bubblegum has redirected the suspicion to Goldflipper."

"We're on it Chief." Secret said.

Secret and Morocco tracked the route of a more recent theft to a volcano in an uncharted island. They landed in the jungle near a beach.

"Goldflipper seems to have a strange liking for volcanoes." Morocco noted.

"I think he used to pick volcanoes because he thought that one of the last places we'd look for him would be near somewhere dangerous." Secret replied. "However, considering how often he has done it it's probably now a habit he can't break."

"Like how he always steals something gold or gold related." Morocco said in agreement.

"Exactly."

They cautiously walked through the jungle, keeping an eye out for attackers or traps. But nothing attacked them, not even when they reached the volcano.

"Maybe we landed on their blind side?" Morocco suggested as he and Secret looked for an entrance they could sneak through.

"No, Goldflipper would have kept the entire island tracked." Secret shook his head. "I don't like this."

Suddenly, two darts hit Secret and Morocco!

"What hit us Secret?" Morocco said, a little woozy.

"Poison darts." Secret explained, starting to lose consciousness himself. "Most jungle natives use them for hunting but I think these are only going to knock us..."

At that, Secret and Morocco both fell unconsciousness onto the ground. A fat ominous shadow covered them...

When Secret woke up, he found himself suspended high up in the air, tied up and hanging from a rope. He wasn't alone though.

"Morocco!" Secret said, seeing his best friend tied to his back. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, except my bottom hurts." Morocco said. "What about you?"

"I'm fine, just wondering where we are."

"Isn't it obvious? You are both prisoners inside my lair."

Secret and Morocco looked down towards the voice and saw Goldflipper there. Big surprise.

"Prisoners? I think not, Secret can get us out of any dire situation." Morocco said defiantly.

"Well I have gotten out of worse traps than this." Secret smiled humbly. "Just one cut from my handy Lasso-Lacerater..."

He concentrated on his device, but nothing happened.

"That's weird, my hat's never failed me before." Secret had never been so confused.

"Not your whole-hat, but what about your half-hat?" Goldflipper grinned viciously, holding up the top half of Secret's hat!

Secret and Morocco looked at the scene with shock and horror.

"You see I realized that practically all of your accomplishments had to do with the gadgets you keep in that topper of yours, so I broke it." Goldflipper explained. "I would have taken off your entire hat instead, but breaking it was more fun. Besides, I want to save seeing your real appearance for when you die. It'll be your last thought before my lava pit burns you into nonexistence: that I, Goldflipper, know what you really look like. Maybe I'll use that info to locate any family members you might have and let them know of your demise...before killing them. You won't die right away though, I want to complete my plan first so that you and your mole friend will be tortured with the realization that you can't stop me. You'll still be slowly lowered into the pit, just to torment you, but I'll come back for your last moments."

"You madman! You'll see Secret will find some way to beat you! Good always wins over evil!" Morocco glared.

Secret didn't say anything, he still had the look of horror on his face.

"Not this time mole." Goldflipper sneered. "Oh, and my plan: I'm going to steal all the candy in the world and sell it back to the people at ridiculously high prices. I just started with gold nugget bubblegum to lure you two here. Well, I must plan my next heist."

At that, Goldflipper lowered a lever and left the room. The rope Secret and Morocco were tied to very slowly lowered towards the lava pit below them.

"Come on Secret, you must have some plan." Morocco said.

"I-I..." Secret faltered. "I don't."

Morocco looked as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"WHAT?" He gasped.

"Goldflipper has won, at least against us." Secret said miserably, defeated. "The rest of ISS may be able to stop him later but we'll...we'll be gone."

"Secret this time you have gone more than 'crazy about catching criminals'!" Morocco scolded. "That's not the Secret I know, the Secret I know would never give up!"

"The Secret you know also always had gadgets on hand." Secret sighed. "But...my hat is of no use and I'm tied up too tightly to reach into my coat. We're too high up to swing to safety, and if we waited until we were lower to the ground it wouldn't work because the pit is too big...I'm only sorry you had to get tied up with me. I chose to be a secret agent so that I could save others and stop crime but you didn't have to repay me for saving your life by joining me."

"It wasn't just that, I chose to be a secret agent for the same reasons you did. I was impressed by your abilities and wanted to learn them, so I could stop evil like my twin brother Sirocco." Morocco softened. "I don't regret sharing this fate with you Secret. We are more than partners we're best friends, and...I think of you as a brother. You do make a better brother than Sirocco ever did."

"That goes without saying." Secret chuckled slightly; then, to Morocco's huge surprise, Secret actually started to cry!

"What's wrong Secret?" Morocco asked, concerned.

"I-I never got the chance to reveal one of my deepest secrets ever." Secret sobbed.

"Which is?"

"I-I'm in love with Penny." Secret admitted.

Morocco was surprised at first, but then smiled.

"That's wonderful Secret, you two would make a good couple." He said. "But why didn't you say anything earlier."

"Because I didn't want any criminals to find out." Secret explained. "If they did they might kidnap Penny and use her for bait, putting her in danger. I just couldn't let that happen, if Penny ever got hurt it would break my heart."

"That's ridiculous Secret." Morocco shook his head. "I mean your reason makes sense and is selfless but I doubt Penny cares about that. If she really loves you, and I believe she does, then she would want to be with you even if it leads to her death. A short time with someone you love, romantically or otherwise, is better than a long life not being with the person."

Secret stopped crying.

"That was strangely insightful of you." He noted.

"Eh, I may not be a genius and I may be a bungler but I do understand ways of the heart." Morocco shrugged the best he could, since he was tightly tied up as well.

"And a wise heart is more important than a smart brain." Secret smiled.

Morocco smiled back.

"So...since we're being open and all that do you think Goldflipper will find your family?" Morocco changed the subject.

"No...my parents died years ago." Secret shook his head.

"Really?"

"Yes, back when I was a kid. I'm an orphan and an only child." Secret admitted. "My parents and I were innocent bystanders during a bank robbery, and could've lived through it like the other bystanders. Unfortunately, a robber noticed the necklace mom was wearing and snatched it, only to discover that the gems were fake. Out of vexation, he shot her. Dad, furious, attacked the robber but another robber shot him. I had ducked underneath a couch during the incident, so they didn't notice me, and they escaped without getting caught. I felt so guilty for not trying to help my parents that I decided to lead a life of crime-fighting. I grew up building up my intelligence, agility, and endurance, and became a cop. I ended up so good at crime-busting that ISS noticed me and hired me, and you know mostly the rest. Unfortunately, I never found those robbers, and I don't think they've ever been caught."

Morocco started to shed a few tears.

"A-and I thought I had a rough family life." Morocco almost sobbed.

"At least you had family, I had no one to turn to after my parents were killed." Secret sighed again. "I hope they're not ashamed of me for giving up so soon, especially since I haven't settled the score yet."

"No, not even you are omni-omni..." Morocco stumbled. "Uh, invincible. *Ahem*, anyway, I'm sure your parents are very proud of you for doing all that you did in the past, and know that you were eventually going to avenge them once you got the chance. If anything they just really hate Goldflipper for taking away any chances you had in the future."

"Thanks, I needed to hear that." Secret smiled.

A short time passed, when Secret and Morocco suddenly heard gunshots and shouts coming from outside the room they were in.

"What the...?" Secret was confused again.

Suddenly, the doors opened and Penny flipped inside!

"Hi guys." She smiled. "When the Chief didn't get a report from you we got a bad feeling something was wrong, so he sent me after you. I knew something had gone wrong when I saw the top half of your hat in Goldflipper's fat flipper. Fortunately, it's not there anymore." She grinned as she held up the top half. "Hang on."

She went over to a control panel near the lever and pulled a few switches. Secret and Morocco were moved so that they were dangling over the floor instead of the lava pit. She then lowered the lever a little more, gently but quickly setting them back onto the ground.

"There you go, now hold still while I reattach your hat." Penny, who knew a little about electronics due to training herself after that one time she became an agent, fixed Secret' hat.

"Penny...you're amazing!" Secret smiled admiringly.

Penny blushed, smiling happily.

"Now..."

This time Secret's Lasso-Lacerater worked and freed him and Morocco.

"Excellent! Let's go stop Goldflipper!" Secret was back to his old self.

"Now there's the Secret I know." Morocco smiled proudly.

Secret, Morocco, and Penny defeated Goldflipper by burying him in the gold nugget gum. They did so by Penny fighting Goldflipper's henchman, distracting Goldflipper in the process. Secret was then able to find the giant container full of the gum, and Morocco, through tripping, found the release lever.


	2. A Secret Date

Secret and Morocco brought Goldflipper to headquarters while Penny returned the still-unused gum.

"Excellent work Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole." Chief praised.

"Well, we couldn't have done it without Penny." Secret smiled. "She was amazing, she saved us and helped us defeat Goldflipper. Truthfully, before she arrived I had given up hope."

Chief and Penny were surprised to hear this.

"Goldflipper broke my hat, and I couldn't think of another way out so..." Secret rubbed the back of his head, slightly ashamed. "But I was wrong to give up hope, I should have known that you wouldn't have let us die like that, that you would have sent someone to help us if we were having trouble."

"Yes, well, losing the best agent ISS ever had would be a waste of money." Chief lighted his pipe; he then smirked, hinting that he was only joking.

Secret, Morocco, and Penny smirked back.

Secret, Morocco, and Penny then left the room, but before Penny could sit down at her desk Secret gently took her hand.

"What is it Secret?" Penny asked.

"When Morocco and I were tied up and I thought that we were going to die I admitted something to Morocco...something that I should've told you a long time ago." Secret said.

"What?" Penny gazed at him.

Secret's heart pounded slightly; he had almost forgotten how beautiful Penny could really be. Secret blushed and looked at the floor, smiling.

"Penny...I'm in love with you." Secret admitted.

Penny beamed and hugged him.

"I love you too." She said. "But I was scared that you wouldn't return my feelings."

"Why would you think that?" Secret hugged her back, overjoyed but confused.

"Because you're a really cool secret agent with a mysterious past and I...I'm just a secretary."

"No you're not, you're an amazing woman." Secret disagreed, pulling slightly free so that he could look into her eyes. "You are strong, brave, smart, and always willing to put your life at risk in order to help others."

Penny smiled at him gratefully.

"In my case I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid of criminals taking advantage of it by kidnapping you." Secret said. "But when Morocco and I were about to die I told him my feelings for you and he said that a short time with someone you love is better than a long life not being with the person. So, no matter how short it is I do want you in my life."

"I feel the same way." Penny smiled fondly.

They kissed, and were amazed by the power of the love they felt for each other. After that Secret always said that Penny's kiss was the only thing that could make him feel weak and powerful at the same time.

When they stopped they looked as if they didn't want to let go, but reluctantly did knowing that they were still on the job.

"Come to my place tonight, we can have dinner and discuss our future." Secret invited.

"Sounds perfect." Penny kissed him on the cheek.

Secret's heart skipped a beat.

That night, Secret dressed up in his best tux, and replace his hat with a black mask that covered the top of his head as well as the tope half of his face. He had prepared a delicious dinner of acorn casserole with a walnut salad. For dessert there was some peanut butter ice cream. Just as he was ready, there was a knock at the door. He opened it to find Penny there, wearing a mint green silk gown with grass green embroidery. Around her neck was a simple gold necklace, and tying up her hair in a bun was a flower barrette. Secret was taken-aback by her beauty, but recovered.

"You look like one of Mother Nature's best flowers." He smiled.

"Thank you." Penny smiled back. "You look quite dashing yourself."

They went inside to eat dinner, and talked about themselves. Work left them little time to get to know each other's background, so now was a perfect opportunity to learn more about each other. Secret went first, telling Penny the story of his parent's death. Penny was shocked and sympathetic, and expressed hope that Secret would someday find those robbers and bring them to justice.

"What about your family?" Secret asked.

"Well, both my parents are alive and I have a younger sister." Penny began. I also have a maternal uncle, who's married and has three kids: two sons and a daughter. That's it."

She then described each of her relatives. Her mom and dad were really good, uh, squirrels, and very open-minded. Their names were Kory (her mom) and Wally (her dad). Her sister's name was Hazel and her uncle's name was Barlow. He married a French squirrel named Fava. She was nice, but a little picky. Penny's cousins were named, eldest to youngest: Hordon, Ashby, and Oak. She continued on, explaining how she became a secretary. It turned out that she was inspired by a favorite childhood show of hers about three female secret agents, and wanted to become one. Her parents supported her, but constantly feared for her safety, so she decided to become a secretary instead.

They had finished dinner by that point so they each got a dish of ice cream and moved to the couch to discuss their future. They decided to make their relationship strictly personal, and at work would only greet each other romantically and exchange light kisses and hugs only a few times each day. They also decided to tell the Chief, and to reassure him that they wouldn't let their relationship get in the way of work. Penny also wanted Secret to meet her family, as she felt that he was the one she was going to spend the rest of her life with.

"Really?" Secret blushed, happy but stunned.

"Of course, I had some slight relationships in high school but this...this love is too strong to be temporary." Penny smiled. "When I'm with you it's like we've already been together for years, and I feel complete when we touch."

"I-I feel the same way." Secret smiled. "My parents' death left a huge hole in my heart, and you have been the only thing that has been able to fill it. In fact, I think it's time you knew two things about me, things that not even Chief or Morocco know."

"What are they?" Penny asked.

At that, Secret removed his mask! Penny gasped, she knew that Secret even slept with some sort of mask on and now here he was revealing his full face to her! She gazed at his even-more handsome face, feeling as though she was being hypnotized by his appearance. Of course, it was just wonderment at seeing his full face for the first time.

"It...wow." Penny finally found her voice. "You look even more handsome than I had ever imagined."

"Thanks." Secret smiled. "The second thing about me is my real name. I registered into ISS under the name of Secret to sound a little more intimidating to criminals. My real name is Eilon."

"Mrs. Penny Eilon Squirrel...I like it." Penny smiled.

Secret blushed again.

They continued talking and enjoying their company, at least until it was almost midnight. Since it was a work night they decided to end there and make the next date the one where Secret meets Penny's family. Secret put his mask back on and escorted Penny home. After they said their good-nights, they kissed again.

The next day, at work, Secret and Penny told Chief about their relationship. He was tense about it at first, but relaxed when they explained that they weren't going to let their relationship stand in the way of work.


	3. Penny's Family and the Future

The following weekend Secret met Penny's family. Even though Penny knew his real name now she still introduced him as Secret. His real name, Eilon, was going to be their personal secret, same with his full appearance. Secret dressed up pretty much the way he dressed up for his and Penny's first date.

Her parents Kory and Wally liked Secret right away, and he them. Kory was glad that Penny found someone who could protect her no matter what, and Wally was impressed that Penny attracted the attentions of a secret agent. Back when she was in high school the popular guys rarely looked her way (contrary to how she looked now, she wasn't that much of a looker in high school).

Penny's uncle Barlow and aunt Fava liked Secret right away too, but the feeling wasn't that mutual. Barlow kept teasing Secret about his name and other secrets he might have and Fava was only impressed with Secret's appearance and his smooth, suave manner. Penny later explained to Secret that Barlow had always been bad at making jokes, and so to not take his personally. Secret already hadn't, since he knew that there were people out there who tried to be funny but kept failing and figured that Barlow was one of them. With Fava Secret already knew about her being picky so he let the matter drop. It was obvious that 'picky' was just a nice substitute for shallow.

As for Penny's sister and cousins they got along great. Hazel was like Penny except a little more feminine, and she and Secret soon were like siblings. Luckily Hordon, Ashby, and Oak did not inherit their parents bad qualities. They learned from them and so were the opposite. Oak was a tomboy, but still dressed up for special occasions. She was really into art, especially abstract, and was extremely happy to meet Secret since he created one of her favorite works: Still Life Without Parole. She was also happy to find that Secret was humble, and thought that Penny was way beyond lucky. Hordon was the sporty type, and especially loved soccer. He sometimes liked to show off by kicking a soccer ball into trees to knock down acorns and other nuts, but otherwise was a lot of fun to be around. Ashby was the quiet one, more of a book type, but he was impressed with Secret's physical abilities. Secret, at requests, had shown everyone his various moves and Ashby wasn't the only one impressed. Penny's parents especially hoped that Secret and Penny would someday get married, though did not express this out loud right away. They waited until it was time for Secret to go home and then talked to Penny about it. She agreed with them, but added that it was Secret's decision of when to propose.

A little over a year later, Secret did. He first wanted to make sure that Penny would be okay, safety wise, before proposing. It turned out that even though news of him and Penny dating did spread to the criminals, they didn't take advantage of it. Secret, Chief, and Morocco were surprised, but Penny guessed that the criminals knew how protective Secret was of the town and didn't want to find out the hard way how protective he would be of her. Secret, Chief, and Morocco decided that she was right, and it later was revealed to be true.

So, one late spring night, Secret proposed to Penny, who accepted on the spot. They only told Chief, Morocco, and Penny's family. Morocco obviously was the best man, while Ashby was the ring bearer (he was a little older than ring bearers usually are, but he was the youngest boy they knew so...) and Oak was the flower girl. It was a very small ceremony, as no one else was invited except for Fava's family and the rest of Morocco's family (excluding Sirocco of course). The wedding took place outdoors, in a park, and it was a wonderful ceremony. Secret and Morocco made sure that all the most dangerous criminals would be extra-tightly locked up for the day of the wedding.

Because of Secret's job a honeymoon was almost out of the question, but he and Penny figured it out: they would accept foreign assignments and take a little time off after each mission to enjoy the country they were in at the time. It ended up working out great, Secret and Penny saw most of Europe that way. Secret was sad that Morocco wasn't there helping him, but everyone knows that honeymoons are for the married couple only. Secret and Penny took a lot of photos, and it turned out Morocco wasn't regretful about missing out. He was too glad that Secret and Penny's honeymoon worked out.


	4. An Unexpected Resolution

Time passed, and Secret and Penny had a family of their own. They first had a daughter, who Secret wanted to name Alani.

"That's a wonderful name!" Penny smiled. "But how did you come up with it?"

"It...it was my mother's name." Secret admitted.

Penny was surprised, but then smiled.

"It's perfect." She said.

A couple years later they had a son. This time Penny asked Secret what his father's name was.

"Allon." Secret said. "He came from a Jewish family. I was named after him, just with a different pronunciation to prevent confusion."

"I like it." Penny smiled.

And so, their son was named Allon.

One time, Christmas time that is when Allon was four and Alani was six, they went Christmas shopping. They passed a bank, when they saw a commotion near it. They realized that a robbery was taking place. Secret was in his civilian appearance of Eilon, and so wasn't wearing his mask. Secret now only used his secret agent form for missions.

"Looks like it's time for Secret Squirrel to go into action." Secret whispered to his family.

"Can we watch?" Allon whispered back.

"Not too close, I don't want you or your sister getting hurt even though your mom can protect you."

Secret ducked into an alley and changed into his secret agent appearance. He then somersaulted into the bank and aimed a gun at the robbers, only to freeze with shock.

The robbers were the same ones who killed his parents!

"You!" Secret said angrily. "So you're back!"

The robbers and the few people at the bank (most of them tellers) were surprised that Secret knew them, but they didn't say anything about it.

"Yeah we ran short on cash and since this place was so easy last time we decided to give it another go." One robber, a jackal, shrugged.

Secret suddenly attacked them!

"Hey!" Another robber, an otter, protested. "What's your problem?"

Secret didn't answer, he just kept fighting them. Since the robbers were distracted by the battle Penny decided to use that opportunity to encourage the few customers that were inside to leave the building. Allon and Alani followed and hid behind a potted plant. One robber, a bull, noticed Penny...and her necklace.

"Those had better be real jewels little lady." The bull cut her off from the exit.

"What's it to you if they aren't?" Penny retorted, hitting him in the face with a well placed kick.

"Why you..." The bull pointed his gun at her!

Secret saw this and metaphorical fire burned in his eyes. With an angry scream he attacked the bull, beating him up severely before tossing him to the other robbers. All the robber fell to the ground stunned.

"Remember your last robbery here?" Secret glared at them. "You killed a female squirrel just because her necklace wasn't real jewelry and then you killed her husband, leaving their young boy an orphan. News flash: that boy was me. It was my parents you killed, and I am not going to let you kill my new family like you killed my old one!"

The robbers looked at him with shock, and even a little fear. Secret unleashed a rope from his hat and tied up the robbers. The police soon arrived, since a teller had quickly contacted them while Secret was fighting the robbers.

"You guys are lucky I am not the killing type, because if I was I would have killed you by now." Secret glared to the robbers. "But I do have something extra for the specific ones who killed my parents."

At that, he punched a stork and a serval so hard in the face that they fell unconscious.

"They are going to have quite a headache when they wake up." Secret smiled triumphantly.

As the police took the robbers away Penny hugged Secret.

"That was awesome, and you finally avenged your parents." Penny smiled.

"Yeah, I can't wait to tell them." Secret hugged her back.

Allon and Alani came out and congratulated their dad, extremely impressed.

Then the bank manager, an old crocodile named Greenbags, came out, looking surprised.

"Eilon?" He whispered. "You're Secret Squirrel?"

Secret then recognized him. The last time he saw Greenbags was when he first inherited his parents' bank account many years ago. Since he was still a minor then Greenbags set it up so that Secret would be able to use the money to pay for school and other necessities, but nothing else.

Then when Secret was eighteen he gained full control of the account and made it his own, without Greenbags assisting him since he was old enough to do it on his own by that time.

"Let me guess, you never actually went to the address I gave to the bank when I last moved." Secret smirked.

The house he lived in was well known as Secret's house, especially since it had security tighter than a government building's. Even so Secret used his civilian name instead of his ISS name a the bank.

"Er...no." Greenbags admitted sheepishly. "Although I did wonder about the large amounts you spent on it...I guess this explains it. Don't worry your secret's safe with me. I do owe you for saving the bank anyway."

Secret smiled gratefully.

Secret and his family then continued shopping and headed home.


	5. A Family Reunion

A couple days later, they went to the cemetery to visit Secret's parents. It would be Alani and Allon's first visit since Secret and Penny wanted to wait until they could both walk and talk good enough.

"Mom, dad, you of course remember Penny, my wife." Secret said to the tombstone; since his parents died around the same time they were buried together. "Now I want you to meet our children, your grandchildren. I named them after you. This is our eldest, Alani, and our recent child Allon. We've had great times together, similar to the times we had back when you were alive. Oh, and wonderful news, I finally avenged you! The robbers who killed you showed up a couple days ago and I defeated them. Without killing them too, I would never stoop to their level. Now kids, how about you say hi to your grandparents?"

Allon and Alani felt a little weird talking to a tombstone, but they gave it a shot. They soon grew more comfortable with it and talked about how they were doing and how Secret and Penny were great parents. Penny then had her turn, and told them how proud she was of Secret and how they were lucky to have a son like him. She didn't say anything about her being lucky to be married to him because she already did that when she first 'met' them. Secret said a few more words, like how much he still missed them (which he did everytime he visited them) but also how the pain had gone thanks to Penny and his own children. Secret and Penny then placed a bouquet of roses on the grave and started to leave. They hadn't taken more than a few steps when a strange wind blew behind them. Allon and Alani turned around.

"Hey dad, was that there before?" Alani asked.

Secret and Penny turned and dropped their mouths open: there was a photo lying against the bouquet of roses!

Secret went over and picked up the photo, and then went back to Penny.

"I don't believe it..." Secret stared at the photo. "This is the photo that disappeared from my parents' Christmas album!"

Sure enough it was a photo of Eilon, way back before he became Secret, with his parents. It was the last Christmas they had together before the robbery that killed his parents.

"I always wondered what happened to it." Secret continued. "I noticed it's disappearance when I looked at the album later that day, the day of the robbery, and could never figure out where it went."

"Uh...maybe your parents took it." Penny suggested, looking surprised about something.

"What do you mean?"

Penny tapped the back of the photo. Secret flipped it over to reveal these words written on the back: 'We're proud of you'.

"But I thought you 'couldn't take it with you' when you died." Secret Scratched the back of his head.

"Maybe they stayed behind to keep an eye on you?" Penny shrugged.

"That's what we did."

"YIPE!" Secret and Penny jumped and Allon and Alani automatically grabbed each other in fright.

"Mom?" Secret gasped, recognizing the voice; he looked around but couldn't see anything, at least not anything unusual.

"Yes it's me, you're dad is here as well."

"Hey son."

"We couldn't move on because we were worried about you, plus we couldn't rest in peace with those robbers still at large. Now that you have defeated them we can move on."

"And with your new family you don't need us anymore. You now have others to love and take care of you, as well as your own little ones to take care of."

"We're very proud of you, and we love you so much."

"We're also glad you found quite the catch, and such fine children you two have."

Alani, who was very brave for her age, spoke up next.

"Grandma, grandpa, where are you?" She asked.

"Part of the wind, that's why you can't see us." Secret's mom explained.

"Plus it's almost time for us to leave, we just wanted to say goodbye first."

"Hey wait a minute, how come you never talked like this to me before?" Secret protested.

"There were other people here before, we didn't want to scare them." Secret's dad said bluntly, but with a hint of amusement.

"Oh." Secret said sheepishly, knowing that his dad had a point.

"We must go now." Secret's mom said.

"Goodbye, I'm sorry you can't talk longer." Penny smiled.

"Goodbye Eilon, goodbye Penny, goodbye grandchildren." Secret's parents said simultaneously, their voices becoming fainter.

"Goodbye...I'll always miss you." Secret waved towards the sky.

"They didn't use our names." Alani pointed out, confused.

"I guess it would have been confusing if they used our names considering mom and dad named us after them." Allon chuckled.

"Oh yeah."

Secret and his new family gazed towards the sky for a few minutes, and then headed home.

Ever since that day Secret had gained total peace and his pain was now gone forever. His parents were avenged, they were at peace, and he now had a wonderful new family to concentrate on. One that Morocco was a part of, for he and Secret had become so close that for the first few years Allon actually thought that Morocco was their real uncle. Alani used to believe that too, until she was seven and Allon was five. That's when they both learned that Morocco was just a very close friend of their parent's, but they continued to call him Uncle anyway. Morocco, who was the family type, was really happy. He had lost most of his siblings thanks to Sirocco and so was glad to be welcomed into Secret's family.

Oh, just to let you know Morocco and Sirocco's parents were furious about Sirocco killing most of their children...they even cut him out of their will a long time ago. That's kinda what really turned him down a life of crime, originally he was just a bully.

But to get back to Secret... He had never been happier. Now he had a real family again and loved them all for eternity. He never experienced the pain of losing someone ever again, for he and Penny actually died of old age together.

Allon and Alani were sad about their parents' death when it happened, but mostly they were glad that dad didn't have to miss mom or vice-versa. Besides, they had their own families to keep them company by that point. And as for their jobs? Allon took over his dad's position at ISS and Alani became a full time cop, eventually even becoming police chief. Crime started to become nonexistent, as Allon and Alani had become almost better than their father had ever been at catching crooks.


End file.
